FREEHOLD – An application which seeks municipal approval to convert a vacant building on East Main Street into a nail salon is moving forward in Freehold Borough.
Owners of the Just Jenny Nail Salon are proposing to establish a business at 31 E. Main St. that would offer pedicures and manicures.
Because the property is in the Freehold Center Core Redevelopment Zone, representatives of the business appeared before the Borough Council on Dec. 3 and Dec. 17 to request that the business be found compliant with the Core Redevelopment Plan. Attorney Vincent Halleran presented the application.
Applications for projects in the Core Redevelopment Zone must be brought before the council so that members of the governing body may determine if the application is compliant with the Core Redevelopment Plan.
If the application is found to be compliant with the plan, the council approves the application and it is then brought before the code/construction official and, if necessary, the Historic Preservation Commission and/or Planning Board.
Justin Jordan, the son of the business’s owner, testified the salon would be open from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. He said 11 employees would work at the salon in shifts, with seven employees working at the same time. The business would have a total of 20 chairs — 10 chairs for pedicures and 10 chairs for manicures.
One potential issue facing the application was the number of parking spaces the business would provide.
According to Borough Engineer William Wentzien, the location of the proposed business has 65 grandfathered parking spaces. As a result of the proposed business having 20 service chairs, which is used in determining the number of necessary parking spaces for a salon, Just Jenny Nail Salon is required to have 108 parking spaces, which yields a deficiency of 43 parking spaces.
Jordan testified that in an adjacent parking lot at Sheriff and Lafayette streets, 38 parking spaces would be used by the business, reducing the deficiency to fewer than 10 spaces.
Jordan further testified that the number of chairs in the salon was not representative of the number of employees because employees provide pedicures and manicures, therefore reducing the number of parking spaces that would be needed.
After listening to the testimony, council members agreed the proposed salon provided adequate parking and noted the lot at Sheriff and Lafayette streets is underused. Council member unanimously voted in favor of the Just Jenny Nail Salon application.
